Morning Roundup 5/22/14

This is moving…perhaps even more so when you know that Evan's wife, Danielle, died soon after writing this article.

I have officiated over forty funerals ranging from suicides to infants. I have buried the young and the old. I have sat in hospitals with the dying as well as in prisons with those who have taken life. For the last two years, I have walked with my Resplendent Bride as she has suffered through Lymphoma, Leukemia, and, as of twenty-two days ago, a bone marrow transplant.

With one addled brained banality I hope to forever clinch my claim to the title of "Captain Obvious" by opening an article on how to disciple a member of the fellowship of the suffering with this astute observation: "People suffer differently." So the process of discipling them through their pain will look different depending upon the person you are walking through the shadow lands with. People suffer differently. People are soothed differently. The goal of discipleship in the midst of suffering must be comfort in Christ, for the closer we walk with the Lord Jesus the more we see a small portion of the massive burden he always carries on our behalf. Surely the Lord Jesus walks with us through the feasts and the famines (Ps. 23).

Here are some lessons I have learned since joining the fellowship of suffering.

1. SHOW UP.

Saying the wrong thing is a moot point if you don' t show up at all. Do you know what is worse than saying the wrong thing? People feeling like you have abandoned them in their darkest hour. The elders of the church I have the honor of shepherding all agree on this truth when it comes to visitation: It's trepidation followed by relief. For many visitation is trepidation followed by feeling silly because it wasn't that bad at all. Solidarity with the suffering requires presence. Show up. Send a text. Dial a number. Mail a care package.

Show up even if you have to take a road trip to do so. As our society becomes more and more transient we find that people appear in our inner orbit for a minute only to show up in our outer orbit moments later. We hear of this or that tragedy, but they live way over there. If only there was something we could do. We feel sad about it for a few minutes and quickly move on to planning our up coming trip to the big gospel shindig where we're going to fellowship with a bunch of brothers over how awesome it is to serve the one true living God...

Helen Lee, who has also been a guest blogger here and here, has a helpful article on diversity, from a church growth perspective. (Bob Smietana's recent article on millennials is a nice companion.)

At First Covenant Church (FCC) in St. Paul, Minnesota, a church with longstanding roots in the city's East Side neighborhood, you can still find families with ties to the original Swedish immigrants who planted the church 140 years ago. But by 2002, the congregation had arrived at a critical juncture. "It was an aging congregation filled with fear, fear of dying, fear of change," says pastor Anne Vining. The largely Caucasian church decided that it needed to face those fears and pray for direction on its next steps.

What emerged from the crucible of self-examination for FCC and its leaders was the realization that although its neighborhood had remained blue-collar socioeconomically, the racial and ethnic composition of the East Side had diversified far from its Swedish origins. To keep pace with these changes, the church had to begin doing the same. Steve Benson, a lay leader whose daughter represents the sixth generation of his family to attend FCC, recalls, "The landscape of our community had changed, and we needed to re-envision ourselves given what was already right at our doorstep."

Given its location in close proximity to three local public schools, FCC decided that it would focus its ministry efforts on children and youth in the community. Today, if you were to visit the church, you would find that a racial transformation has taken place. On Wednesdays, FCC opens its doors to children and youth in the community for tutoring, rehearsals in one of the many musicals the church produces in conjunction with the local public schools, and a free hot meal. Eighty percent of the people present in these mid-week ministries are non-Anglo.

Mark DeYmaz believes that all churches are called to become multiethnic entities — and that churches ignore the coming demographic shifts at their own peril.

The church's decision to reach out to children and youth in the community has also meant reaching the parents of the young people. Ana Matos is a mother of three who followed her children into the ministry of the church. "What kept me going was the feeling that I had when I was there," Matos says. "I felt part of something. Like I belonged and everyone welcomed me."

I have been reading the classic work, The Mortification of Sin, by John Owen. Owen famously challenges us to "be killing sin or sin will be killing you." He strongly states, "The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh."

It is our duty, as believers, to "be perfecting holiness in the fear of God, to be growing in grace every day, to be renewing our inward man day by day, and this cannot be done without the daily mortifying of sin." Owen also emphasizes that the killing of sin is a work of the Spirit, not something we can accomplish in our own merit or might. "The Spirit is the only author of this work."

Only the Spirit is sufficient for the work of sanctification.

Because only the Spirit can mature us and empower us to be killing sin, Owen devotes a chapter to defining what mortification of sin is not. I find his thoughts extremely challenging and helpful so that we do not equate temporary behavior tweaking with true Spirit-induced transformation.

Mortification of sin is not:

1. UTTERLY DESTROYING SIN

We will struggle with sin as long as we live in this life, in this fallen world, and in these fallen bodies. "It is true this is that which is aimed at, but this is not in this life to be accomplished."

2. CONCEALING SIN

Mortification is much different than merely hiding or covering sin with a change in external behavior. Owen explained, "When a man on some outward respects forsakes the practice of any sin, men perhaps may look on him as a changed man. God knows that to his former iniquity, he hath added cursed hypocrisy… He hath got another heart than he had, that is more cunning; not a new heart, that is more holy."

Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, joins Ed Stetzer from the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, Tenn., to discuss his story, the new direction of the organization, cultural engagement, his book ReFocus and the new documentary Irreplaceable.

Focus on the Family is a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive. We provide help and resources for couples to build healthy marriages that reflect God's design, and for parents to raise their children according to morals and values grounded in biblical principles.

On this episode of The Exchange with Ed Stetzer: Dr. Darrell Bock serves as Executive Director of Cultural Engagement and Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He also blogs at blogs.bible.org/bock. Focus on the Family Vice President of Community Outreach Kelly Rosati The Gospel Project series continues with Pastor Derwin Gray discussing the Gospel and religion Bad church signs